"All of a sudden I was like, 'I need to know where the door is...stop! Get the mask off!'" Tobias Forge reveals the moment he had a terrifying panic attack live on stage that'd change the way he approaches Ghost shows (and the mask he wears)

Ghost mainman Tobias Forge has opened up on the debilitating panic attack which forced him to pause a gig in the UK back in 2015 and has changed the way he has approached live shows ever since.

Speaking to Metal Hammer, Forge points to a show at Leeds Beckett University in December ten years ago as the moment he realised the full face masks he wore onstage as Papa Emeritus were becoming a problem.

"Throughout my years in in masks, I've developed a not comfortable claustrophobia," he explains. "It's the idea of having something over your throat, being completely engulfed, completely enclosed."

Describing the moment the claustrophobia-induced panic attack hit, midway through a performance of Ghost banger Con Clavi Con Dio, Forge says it was a first-time experience that necessitated him walking offstage and removing his costume.

"It had never really happened to me before, but I was walking into the venue, and this is, this is very close to the [November 2015 Paris] Bataclan shooting," he says. "We went into the venue, and it was raining outside, big surprise, absolutely pissing down. I was told there was only one entrance into the venue; you had to walk in on the right side of the stage, past the stage, and then into a backstage area.

"So, essentially, you couldn't get out. You were locked in. That was what I was told. And I didn't think of it until during the show, when all of a sudden I was like, 'I need to know where the door is...I can't get to the door. Stop! Stop! Get the mask off!' I had to get everything off. Restart the whole thing."

As it turns, there was in fact another exit to the Leeds venue that Forge hadn't been shown before the show.

"We had to have a guard come and show me - lo and behold, there was another door," Forge reveals. "There was absolutely a way out. And then it became a thing [for future shows]: I need to know where the door out is. I need to know how I get out. As long as I know how to get out, we're good.

Forge adds that he's done "hundreds of shows" without any panic attacks since that night: "I haven't had any problems with it. I know it works. I know how to deal with it. It's definitely in the back of your head, that that can happen, but it's just a panic attack. It's nothing dangerous."

Tobias Forge has previously acknowledged that to offset his claustrophobia, the current mask he wears on stage as Papa V Perpetua covers a lot less of his face, freeing his mouth and throat up. Ghost recently announced the latest leg of their world tour in support of this year's acclaimed Skeletá album, with a bunch of dates scheduled across North America early next year.

Ghost Skeletour North American tour dates 2026

Jan 21: Orlando Kia Center
Jan 22: Jacksonville VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
Jan 24: Knoxville Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center
Jan 25: Charlotte Spectrum Center
Jan 26: Greenville Bon Secours Wellness Arena
Jan 28: Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena
Jan 30: Montreal Bell Centre
Jan 31: Toronto Scotiabank Arena
Feb 02: Columbus Nationwide Arena
Feb 04: Cincinnati Heritage Bank Center
Feb 05: Peoria Peoria Civic Center Arena
Feb 07: Tulsa BOK Center
Feb 10: Salt Lake City, UT Delta Center
Feb 12 Spokane: Spokane Arena
Feb 14: Vancouver Rogers Arena
Feb 15: Seattle Climate Pledge Arena
Feb 17: Portland Moda Center
Feb 20: Sacramento Golden 1 Center
Feb 21: Anaheim Honda Center
Feb 23: Inglewood Intuit Dome